Weekly Update: Training ends

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution has officially entered the offseason and has begin preparations ahead of the 2013 campaign. The team closed postseason training on Thursday, Nov. 15.

The Revolution is currently scheduled to open training camp ahead of the 2013 season on Thursday, Jan. 17. Between now and then, there will be a Waiver Draft, the Re-Entry Process, the MLS Combine and the MLS SuperDraft to help the team continue to build its 2013 roster.

Far Post Podcast (posted Nov. 16): The guys welcome special guest and new Revs Season Ticket Holder Danny O'Connor back to the show to talk soccer and boxing, and also talk about the re-signing of Andy Dorman.

Strength and Conditioning (posted Nov. 16): This Revs hired strength & conditioning coach Nick Downing ahead of the 2012 campaign. Hear what Stephen McCarthy and Darrius Barnes had to say about the benefits of weightlifting this season.

Team’s Top Tweets

@NERevolution: Nov 15, 11:29am

Soccer tennis tournament to wrap up the last training session of 2012. instagr.am/p/SDpCvqIUXn/

@ClydeSimms19: Nov 15, 8:22pm

Always a sad day cleaning out the lockers #seeyounextseason pic.twitter.com/6DmTxxaa

@LeeNguyen24: Nov 15, 10:59pm

Follow/RT @LeftFootStudio as well as on instagram. Some sick art pieces from @BrekShea and official site is soon to be online!

Shout out to our youth teams and parents (and FO staff) who brought relief supplies with them to NYC for their matches this weekend

@jeff_lemieux: Nov. 19, 9:55am

Remember when @LeeNguyen24 didn't win Goal of the Week? Well, now he's in the final four for Goal of the YEAR. I'll take that trade. #Revs

TEAM NOTES

Revs add midfielder Kalifa Cisse for 2013
The Revs announced this morning that the club has signed French midfielder – and Mali international – Kalifa Cisse to a contract ahead of the 2013 season … Kalifa most recently played at English Championship side Bristol City and has a total of eight years of professional experience in Portugal (GD Estoril-Praia and Boavista) and England (Reading FC and Bristol City) in the countries’ top leagues … he also has five caps for Mali.

Four players waived Monday
The Revolution placed four players on waivers today: forward Blake Brettschneider, defender Flo Lechner, midfielder Alec Purdie and midfielder Michael Roach … all four players will be available to the other 18 teams in Major League Soccer through this afternoon’s Waiver Draft … all four players waived were in their first year playing for the Revolution.

Revs win Xbox Team Fair Play Award
Major League Soccer announced on Monday that the Revolution won the 2012 Xbox Team Fair Play Award … Revs took home the award – which is based on objective criteria such as fewest fouls committed and cards received, and subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior – for the third time in club history after also winning it in 2003 and 2008 … this season, the team committed the second-lowest number of fouls (360) in the league, the team’s 40 cautions were the league’s third-lowest total, while the team’s two red cards were tied for the second-lowest total in MLS … additionally, no Revolution players served a caution accumulation suspension this year.

Nguyen into AT&T Goal of the Year final four
Lee Nguyen’s blast against his former Vancouver side on May 12 has made it through to the final four in the AT&T Goal of the Year voting … final round voting – consisting of text and online submissions – will take place from Nov. 24 through Nov. 27 … more information on the final round can be found HERE and Nguyen’s blast can be viewed -- ahead of final round voting -- HERE.

Revs re-sign Andy Dorman for 2013
The Revs added Welsh midfielder Andy Dorman on a free transfer from England’s Crystal Palace last Thursday … the Revolution originally drafted Dorman in the fourth round (56th overall) in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft and he was a key figure in the teams that advanced to three straight MLS Cup championship matches (2005, 2006, 2007) … Dorman was also an anchor on the 2007 squad that won the team’s first-ever cup championship – the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup … in four seasons, Dorman made 112 regular-season appearances and scored 17 goals while adding 18 assists.

Revolution Holiday Packs … ON SALE NOW!
The Revolution’s popular Holiday Packs – four- and six-game ticket packages – are now on sale to the public … fans have the choice of four- or six-game packages and both plans include the choice of one of four special-edition gifts … four-game packages start at $88 for lower-bowl seating, while six-game packages start at $108 … six-game package purchasers pay for only for five tickets and receive the sixth game free … more information can be found HERE.

Revs, Midnight Riders enter week three of “Movember”
Members of the Revolution front office, as well as one of the club’s supporter groups – The Midnight Riders – enter week three of “Movember,” an international mustache-growing program to raise funds and awareness of men’s cancers … fans can support the “Movember” teams by donating to members of the front office (HERE) and to the Riders (HERE) … headed into the third week of the campaign, the Riders are currently ranked fifth of 27 teams in the MLS network and have raised more than $1,400.

2013 Season Tickets now on sale
2013 season tickets are now on sale … a special video including a list of pricing, all the benefits of becoming a season-ticket holder, and more, can be found HERE … the Revs finished the 2012 home schedule on a five-game unbeaten streak (2-0-3) and averaged 24,949 fans in its last home two games of the season.

FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup in February
For the second year in a row, the Revs will participate in the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup this February to wrap up their preseason training … the New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake – both teams competed in the 2012 tournament – and Seattle Sounders FC will also join the Revs in Tucson for the tournament … the round-robin group games will be played on Wednesday, Feb. 13, Saturday, Feb. 16 and Wednesday, Feb. 20, before the championship (which will be televised by NBC Sports Network) and consolation games are played on Saturday, Feb. 23 … for more information, visit HERE.

YOUTH UPDATE

U14s suffer loss on the road
On Saturday, Nov. 17, the Under-14s suffered a 1-0 loss to BW Gottschee in Brooklyn, N.Y. … though the Under-18 and Under-16 teams were also set to play BW Gottschee on Saturday, an unexpected scheduling conflict caused the games to be postponed until the spring.

U18s, 16s return to Gillette Stadium Saturday
The Under-18s and Under-16s will next take on Oakwood SC at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 24 … the U18s will kick off at 11 a.m., with the U16s following at 1:30 p.m … the U14s return to action on Saturday, Dec. 1, with an away match at FC Westchester.

Season to-date records
Entering next week’s action, the Under-18s are 4-2-0 (12 pts.) … the Under-16s are 2-1-4 (10 pts.) … the Under-14s are 4-2-0 (12 pts.) … all three teams rank in the top third of their respective divisional standings based on points per game.

Youth Teams media availability
The Revs’ youth teams have returned to a three-day training schedule (Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday) … youth team training sessions are open to media. If you are interested in attending a session and/or interviewing a player or coach, please contact Missy Wade directly to coordinate and confirm the team’s training schedule.